STORM2K

Not much word at this time, details are fairly sketchy:

Harrier Crash Near Base
Craven - 12/29/2008
Rescuers are at the scene of a fighter jet crash near MCAS Cherry Point.

Officials at the base say there is no word yet on the condition of the aircraft's pilot. Cherry Point spokeswoman Gunnery Sgt. Reina Barnett says the crash occurred about 12:15 p.m. Monday in some woods off a runway at the base. Base spokesman Mike Barton said he had been told the plane is an AV-8B Harrier, but had little additional information.

A marine helicopter is conducting a search and rescue operation at the scene.

An AV-8B Harrier crashed in February in Carteret County, but the pilot was not injured.

Source: http://www.wcti12.com/News12.asp#1765007124

There is quite a bit of woods off the runways here, so not sure which runway it crashed off of. Just hope the pilot had time to eject before it went down.

Will update as more info becomes available.

Cherry Point spokeswoman Gunnery Sgt. Reina Barnett told WNCT-TV in Greenville the crash occurred about 12:15 p.m. in some woods off a runway at the base.

Base spokesman Mike Barton said he had been told the plane is an AV-8B Harrier, but had little additional information.

The television station said a Marine helicopter is conducting a search and rescue operation at the scene, near the state's Cherry Branch ferry terminal on the Neuse River.

Update Fox News got from the sister station of WCTI. If it crashed in the river, that probably would be the best situation we could have. Hopefully it doesn't close the Ferry terminal though, as a bunch of Cherry Point's workers use it every day to go to work and back.

Well, this is more detailed:

By George Crocker
WNCT.com Online Executive Producer
Published: December 29, 2008

A pilot is still missing today after his aircraft crashed near MCAS Cherry Point this afternoon.

GySgt Reina Barnett tells Nine On Your Side that a Harrier jet attached to Cherry Point went down near the airbase earlier today.

A witness hunting on a piece of land owned by Weyerhauser on Hwy 101 and about a half mile from Ferry Road says they heard an erratic noise coming from the plane and could see smoke and flames. The witness did not see the impact nor the pilot or crew eject.

PEDRO is still on the scene.

Nine On Your Side will continue to follow the story as it develops.

Source: http://www.wnct.com/nct/news/local/arti ... int/27373/

PEDRO is a CH-46 Helicopter used by MCAS Cherry Point for SAR missions...they are used quite a bit for boaters in distress and aircraft crashes, though those are unusual. Not good that the pilot is still missing, two hours later.

Update from WNCT-TV:

By George Crocker
WNCT.com Online Executive Producer
Published: December 29, 2008

A pilot is dead today after his aircraft crashed near MCAS Cherry Point this afternoon.

By George Crocker
WNCT.com Online Executive Producer
Published: December 29, 2008

A pilot is dead today after his aircraft crashed near MCAS Cherry Point this afternoon.

GySgt Reina Barnett tells Nine On Your Side that a Harrier AV-8B Harrier jet attached to Cherry Point went down near the airbase earlier today. The single seater belonged to V-MAT 203, a Marine Attack Training Squadron.

A witness hunting on a piece of land owned by Weyerhauser on Hwy 101 and about a half mile from Ferry Road says they heard an erratic noise coming from the plane and could see smoke and flames. The witness did not see the impact nor the pilot or crew eject.

PEDRO is still on the scene.

Sad to hear.

I was not aware that the VMAT section had single seater AV-8B's. The Trainers are two seaters, but apparently they have a single seater, as only one pilot has been reported killed and it was reported as such

Regardless, it is a sad loss of both life and aircraft. Current word is the crash did not affect any area homes, so the pilot is most likely a hero. The pilots tend to stick with the aircraft if it is going down in an area that has homes, riding it all the way in to ensure the plane does not strike any homes, or at the very least, as few as humanly possible.

http://www.havenews.com/news/bencosme_4 ... _capt.html

Well, current speculation is that he was trying to land the Harrier in the field. There were no houses in the area (he crashed in my dad's old hunting club, I've driven or ridden down that road many times!).

The reasoning behind that is:

1. His plane was in an open field, surrounded by woods
2. He did not punch, or "eject"
3. Even though there were hunters in the area that noticed the plane going down (saw and heard it while it was flying), they reported they did not hear, nor feel the impact of the jet. These were the same hunters that called 911 and directed emergency crews to the scene.

Will we ever truly know? Hard to say. But it sucks thinking that he was THAT close to getting out of the aircraft alive. He already knew he had problems, he was trying to milk it back to base...they already had crash rescue waiting on the runway for him. His plane crashed less than a mile from the base, my prayers are out to his family and him.